French retail giant Carrefour plans to sell its Malaysian business in Malaysia, a minister said, amid speculation the firm will also offload its Singapore and Thai stores and exit Southeast Asia altogether.

“We heard that Carrefour is considering divesting. It is for the purpose of rationalisation of their overseas business,” Deputy Minister of International Trade & Industry Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said late Monday.

“They want to sell their business (in Malaysia),” he said, adding that “other hypermarkets are keen to take over” Carrefour’s 23 stores in the country.

Letters that do not contain full contact information cannot be published.Letters become the property of AseanAffairs and may be republished in any format.They typically run 150 words or less and may be edited